Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona, 2017 Champions League: Preview, team news, and predictions

The Champions League Round of 16 often has some disappointing matchups in it as it builds up to a more dramatic quarterfinal round, but this year there are some tremendous pairings. The biggest of them all might be Barcelona against Paris Saint-Germain, a tie that kicks off in the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.

Both teams have had their struggles this season -- both are in second place in their respective leagues, and both have had long injury woes and stretches of outright bad form. Barcelona’s form has improved of late, though, and they’ve finally started to look something like the team they’re supposed to be, while PSG have still found themselves unable to catch Monaco in the Ligue 1 standings.

Of course, Paris Saint-Germain will be leaning heavily on history in this tie — while they’ve never fared well against Barcelona in the Champions League, they’ve also never lost a Round of 16 tie. There’s a first time for everything, but PSG will be hoping to avoid creating that particular historical precedent just yet — and while it will take a massive step up in form for them to topple Barcelona in the Round of 16, if they get off to a strong start in the first leg of the tie and hold onto their momentum then they certainly have the talent it would take to pull it off.

But Barcelona are Barcelona, and that means that it’s unlikely we see an upset — but the possibility is there, and the hope for it exists. Now we just have to wait to see the outcome.

Barcelona have a trio of injuries that could wind up hurting them. Javier Mascherano will be missing off the back line because of injury, while the valuable presence of Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal on the bench will also be missing thanks to injuries of their own — depriving Barcelona of valuable versatility late in the game. Fortunately, all of their attacking trio of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, and Neymar will be available as they aim to terrorize PSG’s defense.

That will be problematic for Paris Saint-Germain, who are without key defender Thiago Silva thanks to injury. Midfield shield Thiago Motta will be out as well with a suspension — but depending on who you ask, that could be more of a blessing than a curse.

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Kevin Trapp; Maxwell, Presnel Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Serge Aurier; Blaise Matuidi, Adrien Rabiot, Marco Verratti; Julian Draxler, Edinson Cavani, Lucas

Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc-André Ter Stegen; Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto; Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitić; Neymar, Luis Suárez, Lionel Messi

Marquinhos vs. Luis Suarez — With Thiago Silva out, Marquinhos has to find a way to shut down Suarez on his own in order to allow both Maxwell and young Presnel Kimpembe to double-team Lionel Messi. If he can keep Suarez in check and if that duo can contain Messi, PSG might just have a chance to slow Barcelona down and get something from this match. If he fails, though — well, it’s going to be a long day.

Marco Verratti vs. Sergio Busquets — Likely to be one of the higher-placed PSG midfielders and a key playmaker in the match, Verratti is going to be facing off with Busquets frequently. On the surface, it’s not a matchup Verratti is likely to win — the kind of physicality Busquets brings to the table is not something the Italian midfielder has often dealt with well in his career. But if he can dig deep and find a way through, it will give PSG a huge leg up in this match.

Neither team is where they want to be in their respective leagues, but looking at form and recent quality it’s obvious that Barcelona are a step above Paris Saint-Germain right now despite their own relative struggles. Between that and the matchups, this definitely looks like Barcelona’s match to lose.

Of course, the game is being played in France, which will help PSG some — but the question is just how much it can help them. In the end, it should be enough to keep the match relatively close, but not enough to prevent a 2-1 win for Barcelona.